The Warden
by PolarbearsWillEatYou
Summary: SUMMARY WON'T BE AS GOOD AS STORY. Rose Cousland tries to forget what happened to her family, but she can't. Alistar seems to understand, and tries to help her, not knowing what will become of it... RATED M BECAUSE THE GAME IS ALSO RATED M. ((Summary probably sucks Story is actually decent! :P )) -PolarBearsWillEatYou
1. Origins

CHAPTER ONE

ORIGINS

((C/A: Sooo... I know I kind of have this bad habit of quitting stories after 2 chapters when it comes to this game, But, I have deleted my abandoned ones and I am now starting anew! This is will be my first playthrough story, And (Hopefully) the first Dragon Age story I actually COMPLETE. So, "It will be exciting, I will make it exciting, I promise!" ~Zev Quote. :P ))

((P.S: I will be changing some of the plot becuase just typing the dialouge from the game word for word would be boring! Now, let's actually get to the story, shall we? ))

(( P.S.S: This must be annoying by now. :P Anyways, Just letting you know the cover of the story and any other pictures I have, I DID NOT DRAW. I take absolutley no credit for any of them. I have NO drawing skill. NONE. Now, let's actually get to the story, shall we? ))

Rose Cousland was taking a afternoon nap when a servant knocked on the door of her room. "My lady?"

Rose turned over in her blankets and mananged to grumble "Come in."

The servant came in and looked at the mess of blankets surrounding her, he chuckled lightly and made his announcement, clearing his throat. "The Teyrn wants to see you."

"Finnneee." The servant scurried off and she got up. She brushed through her blonde hair quickly and looked through her armor and clothes in her chest by the door. Rose eventually decided on some leather armor, She was just going to see her father, she wouldn't need somthing like splintmail, Would she? She her longsword and wood shield, Just in case.

Rose walked to the main hall where her father and Arl Howe were.

"Oh, There you are Pup, You remember Arl Howe, I hope?"

Rose glared at Howe and stared at him with her light brown eyes. She always hated him, he seemed untrustworthy. "How could I forget?" She faked a smile.

"My son Thomas asked after you, Maybe I should bring him with me next time." Arl Howe didn't seem to notice how much she wanted to kill him.

"Don't hold your breath, I want nothing to do with him." Rose started to turn away.

"Pup!" Her father grabbed her shoulder and turned her around.

"I don't really care that Arl Howe is here, I wish I'd continued my nap." She yawned.

"Actually, I want you to meet someone. Please, Show Duncan in." Bryce turned to a guard.

The guard opened the front gate of the castle and a tall man with black hair, brown eyes, and silver armor came in.

"Pup, This is Duncan, The leader of the Grey Wardens of Ferelden. I trust Ald-"

Rose interuptted him and smiled big. "A Grey Warden?! Really!? That's sooo cool! They're the best heroes in all of Thedas! It's truly a honor to meet you, Duncan." She bowed with a huge smile.

Duncan chuckled. "You're too kind."

Rose wasn't sure what question to ask first. "What's someone as important as you doing here?"

Duncan looked at the excited girl and answered her question. "I'm recruiting, And your father requested someone named Ser Gilmore, But if I might be so bold, I would say that you are also a excellent candidate from what I've heard."

Bryce Cousland cut in. "Honor though that might me, This is my daughter we're talk-"

Rose interuptted him once again. "Me?! Really?! That would be awesome! Let's go!"

Bryce felt like he was being ignored. "Rose, No, that's insa-"

"Daddddddd, This is my dream!" Rose looked up at Duncan and her father with hopeful eyes.

Bryce sighed. "I'll consider it, But no promises."

"That could still be a yes!" Rose smiled and started to run off.

"Tell your brother to lead the forces ahead of me!" He called out.

"Understood!" She started to walk torwards Fergus's room when Ser Gilmore popped up from around a corner, holding her mabari on a leash.

"Oh, there you are, I've been looking for you." He said, the dog trying to get loose.

"Hello to you too, Ser Gilmore." Rose laughed and released the dog off the leash. "I see you have Griffon with you, What was he up to this time?"

"He was raiding the castle larder AGAIN." Glimore smirked.

"Good Griffon, You're such a good boy!" Rose laughed and her mabari rolled over on his belly as she petted him.

"And we wonder why he's always bothering Nan." Ser Gilmore chuckled and started to turn away. "Anyway, Now that you and Griffon have been reunited, I suspect you don't need me around, Goodbye, My lady!" He ran off.

Rose walked torwards the rooms once more and bumped into her mother, Lady Landra, Dairren, and a elven girl she hadn't seen before.

"Oh Hello Rose, You remember Lady Landra, Don't you? She was at the spring salon." The Teyrna smiled.

Rose remembered it faintly. "Weren't you drunk?"

Lady Landra laughed and responded. "Yes, I spent over have the salon trying to get you to marry my son."

Rose laughed and Darrien cut in. "Don't listen to her, It's good to see you, My lady, You're looking-"

She cut in. "Don't. I can handle my own affairs, Thank you very much!"

The Teyrna laughed. "All evidence to the contrary."

"Whatever." Rose walked torwards her brothers room and told him to lead the troops ahead, then she went to bed.

She was awoke by her dog barking loudly and fiercly. "What is it? Rats? Go deal with it!" Rose buried her head in her pillow and the door swung open and the servant from that morning burst in.

"My lady! The castle is under attack!"


	2. The Attack

CHAPTER TWO

THE ATTACK

((C/A: I noticed I repeated a sentence twice in the last chapter, Sorry! This will be the last chapter before we ACTUALLY GO TO OSTAGAR. Exciting, Right? Here we go!))

Rose bounced up and grabbed her wood shield and longsword once again, quickly putting on her leather armor once more. She ran out into the hall and saw three knights with the Howe crest on their shields.

"I should've known." Rose chuckled and charged at them.

She cut down the first two easily, Then she turned to the strongest, smirking. Rose quickly bashed him with her shield, knocking him to the ground, then she stuck her sword down into his chest, He screamed and she kicked him to the side.

Rose yawned. "That was TOO easy."

Her mother ran out of her room with a bow strapped to her back. "Rose! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine, You?" She was acting unusually casual.

"I'm fine, why are you acting so casual about somthing like this!" The Teyrnas eyes were wide.

"I've been expecting it. Howes kind of a jerk. But we don't have time for that!"

More of Howes men poured into the area. "Another battle, It seems." Rose smirked and watched a arrow fly into one of their chests. "Good job Mom!" She chuckled and drew her sword and shield.

Rose walked straight through them, cutting them down as she walked through the crowd, normally stunning them first by smashing her tiny shield into their faces as her mom shot from a distance with her longbow, and Griffon attacked the soilders his master guestered torward.

Eventually, They cleared the room and Rose yawned in dissapointment. "I was expecting more of a fight."

The Teyrna told Rose Bryce was probably escaping through the larder.

Rose ran through the castle, and saw the treasury, and bust the door down, cutting down any of Howes men that got in her way. She grabbed everything from the treasury and popped open a chest with the family sword and the Shield of Highever. She equipped them and some splintmail she had found.

Rose ran throgh the castle and eventually found her way to the larder, where her father was lying on the ground, covered in blood. One of Howes men was standing over him, with his sword about to penetrate her fathers chest. "Don't. You. Dare." Rose ran forward and knocked the attacker in the face with her new shield, and pushed him against the wall, then held the tip of her family sword centimeters away from his neck. "Where. Is. HOWE!" Her light brown eyes were focused on him, and there was no way he could escape.

"I-I-Don't know!" He studdered.

"Then your of no use to me." His eyes widened as her sword went through his neck.

"Father! Are you alright?!" Rose kneeled next to him as he studdered out words.

"Duncan- Brought me here, You two need to go!"

Duncan walked in and slammed the door behind him. "I'm afraid the Teyrn is correct, we need to go."

"Duncan, I beg you, take my wife and daughter to safety, just leave me h-" The Teyrn was cut off by his daughter.

"No!" Rose wasn't going to leave him there.

Duncan tried to comfort her as he noticed the tears falling down her cheeks. "My lady- Rose, You should listen to your father, We need to go before-"

"Shut up!" Rose was crying. "You don't know anything about me!" She drew her sword and held it to his neck, completely freaking out.

Duncan saw the sadness in her eyes, the desperation, he knew that look, he looked at her with comfort, trying to calm her down.

Rose sighed and put her sword away. "I-I'm sorry, Duncan."

He smiled a little. "Rose, I'm going to take you and your family to Ostagar, and your going to become a Grey Warden."

Rose wiped her tears. "Thank you, Duncan."

Bryce cut in. "Duncan, I'm not going to survive the standing, Take my wife and daughter away from here. Please."

"I will stay with you." The Teyrna sat next to him.

"I- I love you both, so much." She smiled warmly, tears falling as Duncan pulled Rose out of the castle.

Rose would be come a Grey Warden, Her dream would come true. But at what cost?


	3. Ostagar

CHAPTER THREE

OSTAGAR

Rose and Duncan walked together into Ostagar and was greeted by King Cailan.

"Ho there, Duncan!" The king smiled big and looked at the two.

"Hello, Your majesty, this is the new recruit-" Duncan was cut off by the King.

"No need to be so formal, Your Rose Cousland, Aren't you? How's Bryce doing?" Cailan turned to her.

"You mean you don't know? He-He's dead, Your majesty." Rose held back her tears.

"What do you mean? Duncan, What do you know of this?" Cailan turned back to Duncan, looking concerned.

"Teyrn Cousland and his wife are dead. Arl Howe took over the castle and would've killed us if we hadn't escaped." Duncan looked down.

"I will see too it myself that he pays for this treason! But right now, I must go before Teyrn Loghain sends out a search party. Farewell, Grey Wardens!" Cailan walked off.

Duncan then explained that Rose needed to find a warden named Alistar and prepare for The Joining.

She found him and watched his conversation with a mage.

"I have a message from the revered mother, Ser mage, She desires your presence." The blond haired man she assumed was Alistar was wearing steel scale armor, and looked quite awkard as he talked to the mage before him.

"What the revered mother 'desires' is of no concern to me, tell her I will not be harassed in this manner!" The mage looked furious.

"Yes, I was harassing you by delivering a message." Rose watched the two and wondered why he seemed so awkward around the mage.

"Your glibness does you no credit." The mage glared.

"Aw, And here I thought we were getting along so well, I was even going to name one of my children after you, The grumpy one." Alistar said with a slight smile as Rose giggled, drawing his attention to her.

Alistar, now noticing the woman only three feet away, She was laughing at his jokes, It seemed, He saw she was wearing splintmail and had her blonde hair pulled up, and she watched him with her light brown eyes.  
The mage stormed off and the two were alone there.

Rose couldn't think of what to say, And neither could Alistar. But he eventually settled on. "You know, One good thing about the blight is how it brings people together." He smiled.

Rose laughed a bit. "I know EXACTLY what you mean."

"We could all stand in a circle and hold hands, That would give the darkspawn somthing to think about!" Alistar smiled then continued. "I'm Alistar, By the way. I don't suppose your another mage?"

Rose looked at his carefully tended blonde hair andstared into his dark green eyes. "Don't worry, I'm a warrior."

"Less being yelled at for me then, Though the day is still young."

"Anyways, I'm supposed to help you prepare for the joining, So let's get back to Duncan!" He smiled and started walking torwards Duncan's fire.

"Wait for meeeee!" She laughed and followed him to the fire, where two recruits she had already met, Daveth and Jory, were waiting with Duncan.

"Ah, I see you've found Alistar, Let's begin then. I need you four to go into the Korcari Wilds and find three vials of darkspawn blood, Also, There is a chest with treaties inside, I need you to retreive these also." Duncan said, eyeing the group.

"Understood." Rose said, clearly taking the lead, and led the group torwards the wilds.


	4. The Korcari Wilds

CHAPTER FOUR

THE KORCARI WILDS

C/a: Guys, I need to ask somthing of you, If I suddenly stop posting stuff on this and you want more, PM me and I'll get on it, If I say no, Remind me I put this here and I'll do it anyways. KAY?

"Alistar, You're going way too slow." Rose said as they entered the wilds.  
"I am not!" Alistar protested.

"Oh, But you soooo are." She smiled and heard Daveth laughing, she turned to Daveth. "Do you find somthing amusing?"

"You two sound like a old married couple the way you argue." He laughed and Rose smiled a bit.

"True." She laughed and continued walking, encountering a pack of wolves, Which they got rid of quickly.

"Soooo, Your like royalty or somthing right?" Daveth said behind them, and Rose noticed Alistar cringe a bit.

Rose ignored his question and turned her attention to Alistar. "Alistar, are you alright?" He was looking downward, and looked nervous.

Alistar looked up and saw Rose standing next to him. "Oh, I'm fine." He smiled a bit and looked up.

"Are you sure? If there's somthing on your min-"

Alistar cut her off. "Rose, I'm fine!"

Rose ducked away, even though she looked concerned before, she looked like she didn't care at this point. "Fine, If that's how it's gonna be."

Alistar suddenly realized how rudely he had said it, and looked away, he could just tell her the truth-No, no he couldn't. Not yet, anyways.

After a while, they ran into a soilder lying on the ground, bleeding, Rose quickly ran over and kneeled next to him. "Are you alright? Alistar, Daveth, Jory, Get over here!"

The three men walked over and looked down and Rose started giving orders. "Alistar, Bandage him up!"

"I'll get right on it, fearless leader." He smiled and kneeled down to bandage up the man on the ground.

Rose then quesitoned him. "How did you get here?"

The soilder responded wearily. "A-a-group of darkspawn attacked, and wiped out most of the group."

Alistar finished bandaging him.

The man then got up. "I can get back on my own now, But thank you!"

After a while, The group ran into the first group of darkspawn. Rose turned pale when she saw them running torwards them.

A familiar voice and someone shaking her by the shoulders snapped her back into reality. "Rose? Rose!? Are you alright?" Rose looked up. Alistar.

Rose's paleness faded as she saw him. "I'm fine, Thank you, Alistar." She smiled at him.

"I-Your welcome." He was so focused on her, he didn't notice the darkspawn shoving a blade into his shoulder.

"Alistar!" Rose's brown eyes seemed to get darker with anger as she shoved her longsword into it's chest, then she got down on her knees and sat next to Alistar. "Alistar! Say something!"

Alistar might have been hallucinating, but he was pretty sure that tears were running down her cheeks. "Don't worry about me, fearless leader." He laughed.

Rose ripped bandages out of his pack and patched up his shoulder, she then gave him a potion.

Alistar slowly sat up and drank it, which made him feel much better. "Thanks Rose." He stood up.

"Are you sure you can walk, maybe we should take you back to Ostagar-"

Alistar cut her off again. "Rose, I'm fine, Don't worry about it."

"Good." Rose smiled and Alistar led them to the chest, after they filled up all three vials with the blood of the darkspawn that attacked Alistar.

A chasind girl in loose purple robes appeared from nearby as they realized the chest was empty.

"So, Are you a scavenger or intruder?" She said, watching them closely with her yellow eyes.

"First, tell me who YOU are." Rose said, stepping forward.

"I'm Morrigan, If you must know. But you haven't answered my question. I'm quite confused on why you are looking for somthing that is here no longer."

"'Here no longer' You stole them, Didn't you? You're some kind of... sneaky, witch-theif!" Alistar said.

Rose sighed as Morrigan spoke. "How very eloquent. But if you wish to see your treaties, You must see the person who has them."

"And who would that be?" Rose looked at her skeptically.

"'Twas my mother, In fact, Follow me and I will show you to her."


	5. Flemeth

CHAPTER FIVE

FLEMETH

C/A: This is a spot where I'm going to edit some of the dialouge and put some in in off-screen places, which I will do often. I hope you're enjoying the story!  
P.S: By the way, I will also be trying to put more detail into my writing, becuase I was reading over previous chapters and realized I should think about it more. I even skipped over "Swooping is bad" Which bothers me quite a bit, considering it's one of my favorite lines of the entire game. But, I imagine I'm boring you to death, So, Off we go!

Morrigan lead the group torwards the hut, and no one spoke a word the entire way there.

Once they got there, however, A fairly old woman was standing there, she turned torwards them and Morrigan explained the situation. "Hello, Mother, I have brought you four Grey Wardens who wish to recover their treaties."

The old woman spoke. "Of course, I've known they were coming for a while now!"

"Are we supposed to belive you were expecting us?" Alistar said with sarcasam and Rose realized he had been looking at her. He noticed her confused gaze and turned away as his face turned red.

"You are required to do nothing, least of all belive. Shut ones eyes tight or open them wide... wither way, one's a fool!" The old woman replied. "What about you, what do you think?" She looked directly at Rose.

Rose looked her directly in the eyes. "I think you're insane and should just give us the treaties so we can leave."

"Fine, Fine." She handed Rose the treaties and she put them in her pack. "And tell your Grey Warden friends this Blights threat is a bigger threat then they all realize."

"Thanks, We'll go now." Rose turned away as Flemeth cut her off.

"Don't be ridiculous, Morrigan will walk you back to Ostagar."

Morrigan sighed. "Follow me."

They walked silently through the woods until Alistar started questioning Morrigan. "So, that was your mother?"

Morrigan sighed and responded with annoyance. "If you must know, yes."

"That explains it." Rose noticed his smirk.

"Explains what?!" Morrigan demanded.

"Your nose." Alistar held back a laugh.

"What are you implying, Toadstool?!"

"Your nose, looks just like your mothers." Alistar laughed a bit.

Rose chimed in. "Your eyes, too, they're the same color."

"They are not!" Morrigan exclaimed, making the wardens laugh.

Eventually they got back to Ostagar and Morrigan left. It was time for the Joining.


	6. The Joining

CHAPTER SIX

THE JOINING

The group walked up to Duncan and Rose handed him the vials and treaties.

"Alistar, I want you to keep the treaties with you." Duncan handed them to Alistar and he stuck it in his pack.

"Is it time to do this 'Joining' yet?" Jory said, speaking for the first time since Rose had met him.

Duncan nodded. "Yes. Alistar, take them to the old temple."

Alistar nodded and led them to the place Rose had met him.

"I don't know if I like the idea of this 'Joining'" Jory said, and seemed quite frightened.

"Oh be quiet Ser Knight, try not to soil your drawers until the ritual starts." Daveth said with annoyance.

"I'm a woman, and I'm the bravest one here." Rose smiled a bit, leaning against the wall of the temple.

Alistar laughed at her comment as Duncan walked torwards them and guestured torward three cups filled with a strange liquid.

"At last we begin the Joining. To become Grey Wardens, you must first drink the blood of the darkspawn." Duncan stood next to the table with the chalices on them.

Seeing the concern on the groups faces, Alistar chimed in, "When we drink their blood, we become immune to the taint, So it helps us sense them, fight them, and defeat blights!"

Duncan turned to Alistar. "Only a few words are spoken prior to the joining, But they have been said since the first. Alistar, if you would?"

Alistar nodded. "Join us, brothers and sisters. Join us in the shadows where we stand vigilant. Join us as we carry the duty that can not be forsworn. And should you perish, know that your sacrifice will not be forgotten. And that one day we shall join you."

"I'm ready." Rose said, afraid inside, but not letting it show.

Duncan nodded and turned to Daveth. "Daveth, Step forward."

Daveth took a step torwards Duncan and drank the blood without hesitation. His eyes turned completley white and he fell to the ground. Dead.

Alistar noticed the paleness on Rose's face, reminding him of when she first saw the darkspawn. He darted his face away as Duncan turned to Jory.

"No-no- You-you ask too much!" Jory pulled his sword and held it at Duncan. Alistars eyes had become alert and he had his hand on the hilt of the sword, and took a swift step closer to Rose.

Duncan swiftly pulled his own sword, and after a few swings, killed Ser Jory.

Rose looked at her chalice and gupled it down. If she was going to die, she wouldn't die like Jory.

Alistar cringed a bit as she fell to the ground.

Rose woke up a bit later with Alistar and Duncan kneeling next to her.

"Are you alright?" Alistar grabbed her hand and slowly pulled her up.

"Yea, I'm fine." Rose smiled at his concern.

"Did you have bad dreams?" He smiled back.

"Yes..." She shivered at the thought of them.

Duncan chimed in. "Such dreams come when we begin sensing the darkspawn." He paused. "When you're ready, come see me, Cailan, and Loghain for a meeting about the battle."

Rose nodded as Duncan walked off. She saw Alistar going back to Duncan's fire, and scurried over there after he was all the way over, Rose tapped him on the shoulder lightly and he looked up, smiled, and spoke.

"If the king wants to see you and Duncan, you probably shouldn't keep him waiting, you can ask him aboutn any questions you have."

Rose smiled a bit and blushed a bit. "I-I um, actually wanted to talk to you."

Alistar looked quite suprised. "You do?" Rose responded with a quick nod, and he continued. "Very well then, what's on your mind?"

Rose cleared her throat. "I just wanted to say thank you."

His eyes widened. "For what?"

"I don't know if you feel the same way," She paused for a second, and Alistar's face turned dark red, she quickly noticed and finished her sentence before he sent her away. "But I think we're going to be good friends."

His face faded to normal color and he smiled. "I agree." He sighed a bit, not wanting to say what he said next, but knew he had to. "You should probably get to Duncan, no matter how much I'd like to continue our conversation."

Rose blushed a bit at his comment then nodded. "I'll see you later, Alistar." She smiled and ran off to meet with Duncan.


	7. The Tower Of Ishal

CHAPTER SEVEN

THE TOWER OF ISHAL

"What do you mean I won't be in the battle?!" Alistar exclaimed, and looked quite annoyed.

"I agree with Alistar, we should fight alongside you all. We're just as much Grey Wardens as the rest of you. If you'd like, I could do it alone, and Alistar could fight like he wants." Rose said.

Alistar didn't like that idea. "No, no, that's unnessacary. We should both fight with everyone."

Rose examined his expression when she spoke, he looked- Was he worried about her? No, of course not, she corrected herself.

"That is not your choice. If the king wants Grey Wardens at the beacon, then Grey Wardens will be there." Duncan said.

"Alright, but if the kind wants me too put on a dress and dance the remigold, I'm drawing the line. Darkspawn or no." Alistar smiled a bit and Rose laughed.

She imagined him in a dress and spoke. "I don't know, that could be a fantastic destraction."

"For you maybe, but it has to be a pretty dress." Duncan sighed at the recruits comments.

"What if the Archdemon appears?" Rose tried to regain her seriousness.

Alistar wasn't even trying a bit. "We soil our drawers, that's what."

Duncan sighed and responded. "Leave that to us, you two should get to the tower."

"Duncan." Alistar said before Duncan walked off. "May the Maker watch over you."

"May He watch over us all." He walked away and the two wardens looked at each other, Alistar being the first to speak.

"You ready?"

Rose nodded. "You?"

He smiled a bit. "If I do die by any chance, You'll probably raise me back from the grave just to kill me again for leaving you alone."

Rose laughed and started to walk to the tower. "That's right."

They quickly got to the tower and hurried inside, and were also joined by a mage and Griffon on the way in. There were darkspawn all over the place, which made both Alistar and Rose quite concerned.

As they got to the second floor, Alistar decided to confront Rose with his concerns. "Why is there darkspawn? There wasn't supposed to be any resistance here!"

Rose sighed. "Wasn't it you who was complaining you wouldn't get to fight?"

He laughed a bit. "Hey, you're right. I guess there is a silver lining here if you think about it. At any rate, we should get to the beacon."

They qucikly dealt with the darkspawn on the first three floors, and as they were ascending the stairs to the fourth floor Rose turned around to face the group. "Everyone, If I know my adventure stories, there's probably somthing big up there. Prepare yourselves. For Ferelden!"

Griffon barked in approval, the mage nodded, and Alistar just smiled at her little insperational speech.

They opened the door and saw a Ogre waiting for them next to the beacon.

Rose drew her sword and shield quickly as Alistar did the same. They charged at it and matched their attacks with a sort of rythm, causing the Ogre to stagger back a bit.

_This is my chance_, Rose thought, then charged forward and leaped onto the Ogre's chest, sinking her blade into it as it fell backwards.

"What **was **that thing?!" Rose put her blade away and looked at Alistar, breathing heavy.

"A Ogre, I think." He breathed a bit heavy as well. "We should light the beacon while we have the chance."

The mage shot fire at the beacon and it lit.

Suddenly a huge group of darkspawn came into the room, and Rose got hit with a arrow and blacked out.


	8. Recovery

CHAPTER EIGHT

RECOVERY

((C/A: Just to let you guys know, some of my chapters are gonna be super, super, short, but other ones will be longer, so, if there's a short chapter, it's not how my entire story will be, no worries.))

Alistar woke up with Flemeth standing over him.

He jerked up and pressed his back against the wall. "Oh, It's **you." **He said the last word as if it disgusted him to say it, then he quickly realized what had happened. "Where's Rose? Is she alright?!" He shuddered at the thought she might be hurt... or worse. Then he looked down. "Wait, where's my armor?"

Flemeth waited for him to finish his little tantrum then responded. "She's fine, your armor's in the chest over there, and there are some things you should be aware of..."

Rose jerked up and saw Morrigan leaning over her. "I see you've awakened, Mother will be pleased."

"Wait... Your the girl from the wilds, aren't you? Morrigan, right?" She glanced around. "Where am I? Where's the army, and the king?"

Morrigan sighed. "The man who was supposed to respond to your signal quit the field. Your army... lost the battle. Almost everyone died."

Rose felt like she had just been smacked in the face with a brick. Then darker thoughts creeped into her head as she turned pale. "Wh-where's Alistar?"

"Who's Alistar?" Morrigan looked at her with confusion.

"The one who was with me before, with the carefully tended blonde hair, perfect green eyes, and the best smile in the world." Rose suddenly was slapped in the face with realization of what she just said.

"Ah, yes, he's outside." Morrigan said and guestered torward the door.

Rose jumped up, sending pain through her shoulder where the arrow had struck, but she quickly dismissed the pain and strapped on her splintmail, then marched out, seeing Alistar looking out at the water, lost in thought. She gently tapped him on the shoulder and he turned around in suprise. "Alistar, are you all right?"

"Not really, but seeing you made me feel a bit better." He smiled weakly. "You are my best friend, after all."

"I-I am?" Rose smiled and felt like she was going to tear up.

"Of course." Alistar now had a full smile, then he continued. "Morrigans mother said you were injured in your shoulder, are you alright?"

Rose nodded. "I'm fine, No worries."

"You two shouldn't speak of me as if I'm not present." A old womans voice broke the silence. "You can call me Flemeth."

"Flemeth? THE Flemeth? From the legends?" Alistar looked at her with concern.

Rose remembered the tale from a story she read as a kid. "Hmm, A witch of the wilds, eh? Fine by me, you saved us!"

Flemeth nodded. "Wise words. I suspect as Grey Wardens you have plans now?"

Alistar looked down. "Not really, most of the Wardens were destroyed."

Rose stepped forward and used her insperational speech skills. "Numbers don't matter, we're Grey Wardens, and it's our job to stop the Blight, so, we could use the treaties, yes? The dwarves, mages, and elves could help us, right?"

Alistar smiled with realization. "Of course! Rose Cousland, You're a genius! We could also go to Arl Eamon, as well."

"Thanks, and good idea." Rose smiled and turned to Flemeth, who had started speaking.

"I would also like you too take Morrigan."

"What?!" Morrigan and Alistar said in unison, causing Rose and Flemeth to laugh.

"You heard me. Now, Rose, Alistar, You will take care of her, yes?" Flemeth said.

"Of course." Rose smiled while Alistar grumbled some nonsense about witches-theifs.

"I suggest we go to a small town up north called Lothering first." Morrigan said.

Rose nodded as Alistar chimed in. "Quick question, Can you cook?"

Morrigan nodded and spoke with annoyance. "Yes... I can cook."

"Then you can substitute for Alistar!" Rose exclaimed.

"My cooking will kill us, is all I meant." He smiled as Flemeth shooed them off.

"You ready?" Rose turned to the group.

Griffon barked in approval, Morrigan nodded, and Alistar spoke. "Could we kill Loghain while we're at it?"

"Defenitley." Rose smirked and turned torwards the road.

_And so the journey begins..., _Alistar thought to himself.


	9. Lothering

CHAPTER NINE

LOTHERING

((C/a: By the way, I'd really appreciate it if you guys would give me a review, even if it's negative. I love hearing from you guys, even if it's just one or two people. ))

"Oh look, Travelers!" A group of men walked up to them. "I suspect the pretty one is the leader."

Alistar clenched his fist. _Why does that make me angry? _He thought. _I'm not __**jealous**__, Am I? _

"Sorry, Did you say somthing? I couldn't hear you over the sound of me punching you in the face." Rose looked at the leader agressivley, making Alistar smile a bit and unclench his fist.

"Now, now, calm down dear woman, we just want ten silvers and you can be on your way!" The leader was cut off by Rose punching him in the face.

"Men, Attack!" The bandits attacked them and Rose pushed the leader to the ground, holding a sword to his chest, and had her splintmail boot on his stomach. "Goodbye." She plunged her sword in and walked off.

As they approached the village, Alistar spoke for the first time since they left the wilds. "Ah, Lothering, pretty as a painting."

_Thank the Maker he said something. _Rose smiled and turned to him as Morrigan ruined it.

"Ah, finally decided to rejoin us, have you? You decided falling on your blade in grief was too much work, I take it?"

"Is me being upset so hard to understand? What would you do if your mother died?" Alistar snapped.

"Before or after I stopped laughing?" Morrigan said.

"Shut up, Morrigan." Rose's voice cut through their conversation like a knife.

"Fine, fine." Morrigan turned away.

"Good." Rose turned to Alistar with a smile. "Was there something you wanted to talk about, Alistar?"

"I wanted to know where we intended to go, first." He smiled a bit at her comment torward Morrigan.

"I was thinking Redcliffe." Rose kneeled down and petted Griffin.

"I was hoping you would say that." Alistar smiled. "Well, let's head into the village."

The group first headed into the tavern, where a strange cloistered sister insisted that she join them on her adventure.

The group headed into the village and passed by a cage. Rose stopped, recognizing the creature within. "Hey, you're a Qunari, aren't you?"

The creature looked up as Leliana chimed in. "How did you know that?"

"I read **alot **of books when I was a kid." Rose smiled.

"Yes, I am." The creature barely paid attention to their presence.

"Why are you in here?" Rose studied him more carefully. He looked like a Sten.

"I killed a family, Including the children." Sten looked around.

"What?!" Rose took a step back.

Leliana spoke. "The chantry wants to feed him to the darkspawn, or let him starve to death."

"I think we should free him, then." Rose smiled a bit.

Morrigan nodded her head in agreement. "Wise."

Rose pulled on the door to the cage then turned to Leliana. "Leliana, Could you get this lock for me?" Leliana nodded and picked it swiftly, humming a little song as she did so. Sten walked out.

"What should I do now?" He looked around the village, ignoring the glares the group was getting.

"You're going to come with me, That's what. Here, take these." Rose handed him some heavy chainmail and a greatsword which he quickly equipped.

Eventually the group got to the Imperial Highway, which they saved two dwarves from darkspawn on before heading to a place to camp for the night.

It was also when the nightmares **truly** started.


	10. Nightmares

CHAPTER TEN

NIGHTMARES

**((C/A: This chapter will probably be shorter, and to let you know, I made all of this chapter up, In case you couldn't notice. I wanted to to a chapter about a nightmare, so I wrote this, and tried to make it like a nightmare Grey Wardens might have. I hope you enjoy it!))**

Alone.

Rose was alone.

She was in a blurry haze, and in the distance, she faintly saw a giant dragon breathing purple fire. The atmosphere around her seemed greenish, and whispers were filling her head, driving her insane. She fell to her knees, holding her head with her hands, trying to drive away the infernal whispering and humming. She looked down in the abyss near her and saw hundreds of faint orange lights penetrating the green haze.

And for the first time in her entire life, She screamed.

Rose suddenly felt Alistar's hand on her shoulder, standing over her, trapped in the green universe with her. "Alistar, go!" She cried out, tears falling down her cheeks.

"No, I'm going to stay here, with you." He held his hand out, and as she reached out to grab it, black blotches appeared on his skin, and started to spread, making her hand jerk backwards.

"What's wrong?" He didn't seem to notice as he morphed into a darkspawn.

"No..." Rose's eyes filled with more tears as she jerked backwards, and looked around.

The humming grew more intense and Rose staggered backwards, sending herself flying off the cliff and into the abyss. She closed her eyes and braced for landing on a pile of darkspawn. She then suddenly felt a familiar hand gripping her arm and hoisting her up back on the cliff.

"Alistar?" He had returned to normal, and held her head in his lap. She ignored everything around her for a moment, the green haze, the Archdemon, the Blight, everything seemed so distant to her as she allowed herself to stare into his eyes. Rose sat up slowly and grabbed the collar of his shirt, then pulled him close, ignoring everything, and kissed him.

She pulled away slowly as he morphed back into a hurlock, as she pushed him off and propelled backwards a bit. She looked around and saw her parents, Fergus, Morrigan, and Leliana morphing into hurlocks. She looked over at Sten, who was transforming into a Ogre.

She stepped back and fell into the abyss, closing her eyes, and a group of darkspawn broke her fall, then let her fall onto the ground. They hovered over her and started dragging her away.

_Your journey ends, _She thought to herself, crying.


	11. Camp

CHAPTER ELEVEN

CAMP

"Rose? Rose! Get up!"

Rose jerked up and punched Alistar in the face, drenched in sweat.

"Ow." Alistar rubbed his cheek, looked at her, and sighed. "Are you alright?"

"Sorry," Rose mumbled. "Yea, I'm fine. Why are you bothering me?"

Alistar shot her a skeptical look. "You can't fool me, I heard you screaming."

Rose's face turned red. "Fine, maybe I had a nightmare."

"Do you want to talk about it? It was scary for me too." He smiled and scooched next to her, seemingly ignoring the fact she just punched him in the face.

Rose nodded and told him about it, word for word, but leaving out the part where she kissed him.

"You never talked about your parents, Why do you think they were in your dream?" He questioned.

"Shut up." Rose turned away from him.

Alistar, stunned, tried to apologize. "I-I'm sorry, I don't mean to pry , It's just-"

Rose cut him off and sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I guess I should tell you. My parents were the Teyrn and Teyrna of Highever, In the north. One day, Arl Howe attacked the castle and killed my entire family. I'm alone." She fought her tears.

"Oh, I-I- I'm so sorry, Rose." He turned her back to him. "If there's anything you need me to do for you, just let me know."

Rose was shocked at his understanding. "T-Thank you, Alistar. For understanding. Do you want to talk about Duncan?"

He hesitated. "You don't half to do that, I know you didn't know him as long as I did."

"You helped me, So I'm going to help you." She smiled as he suddenly realized somthing. The light of the campfire allowed him to see her more clearly than before, when he was focused on other things. He never really paid that much attention to her until after the joining, afraid she might die. And he realized she looked quite beautiful as she stared into his eyes, smiling slightly.

"I... I should've handled it better. Any of us could die in battle, and I shouldn't have lost it, not with everything that's going on. I-I'm sorry." He looked down as she grabbed his chin and tilted his head back up.

"It's fine, Alistar. I understand." She smiled.

"I-I'd like to have a proper funeral for him, Once all this is over, He didn't have any family to speak of, as far as I know."

"That's a excellent idea." Rose nodded with a big smile.

"I think he was from Highever, or so he said. Maybe we could go up there, put somthing on in his honor." He stared off into the distance.

"I'll come with you. After the Blight, we'll go up there together. As long as we're still alive, of course. Being alive would be nice." Rose slowly stood up, ready to check up on the rest of the gang.

"I suppose that **would** be nice, wouldn't it?" Alistar stood up as well and waved, walking over to his spot by the campfire.

Rose scanned the camp and realized she was quite tired, she hadn't gotten much sleep because of the nightmare, and felt like she needed more. She crawled into the tent and yawned as she zipped up the flap.

_Good Night, _Alistar thought to himself, not able to form the words. He stared at the rose he had picked earlier in Lothering. _Maybe I could give this to her,_ He thought. _A rose for my Rose. _He chuckled at the wordplay then crawled into his own tent, whispering silently as he passed Rose's tent.

"Good night, Rose."


	12. Redcliffe

CHAPTER TWELVE

REDCLIFFE

((C/A: To let you all know, I'm probably just gonna summarize Redcliffe becuase I always found doing the towns little "chores" was quite a bore. JUST A OPINION! Don't kill me! Seriously though, This may not be the most exciting chapter if you want me to go into extreme detail with defending the city. ))

Rose suddenly opened her eyes, awakening from another nightmare. The one she had just had wasn't as bad as the greeny-haze one, but was enough to make her wake up covered in sweat.

"Rose? You awake?" Alistar. He must have heard her putting on her armor.

"Yea." She grunted and pushed open the tent, yawning loudly.

"I, uh, need to tell you something, I, ah, probably should have told you earlier."

Rose sighed and stood up to face him. "Let me guess: You're an idiot."

Alistar smirked a bit. "Yes, I waited two hours for you too get up so I could tell you I'm a idiot! Phew! Thank the Maker you know already, now I can stop worrying I'll be found out!"

"You're so cute when you're sarcastic." Rose blurted, not fully realizing what she was saying.

Alistar, on the other hand, was completley aware of her sentence and was blushing furiously. "I-I am?" She nodded, looking down, signaling him to continue. "I told you about Arl Eamon, Right?"

Rose nodded. "He's your father, right?"

"No, no, no, That's, um, kindof what I'm trying to explain here. My father was, um, King Maric."

"Oh I- **What!?** You don't think you could've told me this before?!" Rose exclaimed.

"How could I say somthing like that? How!?"

"How about 'By the way, I'm heir to the throne'?!" Rose rolled her eyes in anoyance.

"Listen-I'm sorry." He looked down in regret. "I should've told you earlier."

"It's fine." Rose sighed. "Are you sure you don't have anything else your hiding from me?"

"Just my unholy love of fine cheeses and a minor obsession with my hair, no, that's it. Just the prince thing." He smirked.

Rose laughed. "Cheese?"

He nodded. "Anyways, You can just pretend I'm still just some... **Nobody **who was too lucky to die with the rest of the Grey Wardens."

"That's not really what you think, Is it?"

Alistar turned torwards the path to Redcliffe. "No. What I really think is I was lucky enough to survive with you."

"Really?" Rose blinked.

"Of course. You're amazing." He smiled and started walking down the path and into Redcliffe.

_Amazing, _She thought to herself. _Amazing, _She repeated the word in her head, as if thinking it again and again would make him say it again. No one had ever called her _Amazing. _She thought the same about him, but would never say it. She was too much of a coward. She shrugged it off and followed him into the town, where they were met by a villager named Tomas who led them to the chantry, where they met Bann Teagan, who told them about the attacks, and the Arls sickness.

By nightfall, they were quite prepared, so they fended off the attacks quite easily and had only a few casualties by morning. One of the casualties were quite awful, however, considering it was Redcliffes mayor, Murdock. In the morning, Rose, Alistar, Morrigan, and Leliana met by the chantry with Bann Teagan so they could discuss their next move.

"And to the leader of the defenders of the city," Teagan turned to Rose. "I give the Helm of the Red."

"Oh, no, I couldn't accept a reward for this, I was happy to help!" Rose smiled.

"I insist." Teagan put the helm in her hands and she shoved it in her pack.

Rose nodded and looked striaght into his eyes. "Thank you. What's our next move?"

"Meet me by the windmill." Teagan walked away.

The group ran up the hill and met him by the windmill, where the Arlessa appeared and directed them torwards the castle, and Teagan told them about the signet ring and secret windmill entrance.

The four crawled into the windmill and spotted the secret entrance under a pile of hay.

"You ready?" Rose turned to them all.


End file.
